At Hopkins, Intersession is a really unique 3-week period {after our mandatory 2-week winter break} during which students decide to do all sorts of things: stay at home, hang out with friends, travel, work for extra cash, get a head-start on internship/job/grad school applications, explore the city, and/or take short classes. I've chosen to do quite a few of those things: I am taking two 1-credit classes, working a bunch in the Admissions office, and spending some quality time with friends.
Both of my classes are in the social sciences, which is perfect because, in place of a core curriculum like other schools have, every student majoring in humanities at Hopkins has to take a certain number of credits in social science, natural science, quantitative science, and/or engineering as part of her "distribution requirements." It's a clever system because we are really encouraged to explore other areas outside our major, yet it is completely up to our discretion which subjects we pursue. I've gotten to strengthen my background by taking a lot of classes related to my interests as well, like The Structure of English {a cognitive science class} and Monuments and Memory {in the History of Science and Technology department}. So, this Intersession, I am taking:
Through the Medical Sociological Lens: Tuberculosis in Literature, Opera, and History.
I knew I would enjoy this class from the get-go, considering how Moulin Rouge! is pretty much my favorite movie of all time. I know it is neither literature nor opera {though it's close}, but I think it's fascinating to examine the role of tuberculosis in society, then translate that into knowledge of the role of disease in art as a whole. Our readings and discussions have been so interesting and I feel like I've already benefited: I can absolutely see myself approaching illness in my creative writing in a much more tactful, realistic way. And plus, we've gotten to watch La Boheme and Les Miserables in class. Not so bad. {The only painful aspect of the class is that it meets three days a week from 6:00-8:30pm - it makes me want to take a nap break in the middle!}
About the House: Anthropology of Domestic Space. It's no secret that I am a very domestic person. I love to cook, I
love making sure people are happy, I love to decorate, and I've always
seen myself keeping a house and having a family in the future. So,
when I read a course description that asked the questions, "How do the
spaces in which we live our daily lives shape our sense of
family, work and public space? Where does 'home' begin and end?," I was
thrilled. I think I had slightly high expectations for this class and
I can't say that they have all been met, but it is interesting to learn
about the social construction of "home," as well as how it evolves and
is reworked as is necessary. A pleasant surprise in this class was the
parallel we have been drawing between anthropological writings about
the house/home and the actual architectural designs of domestic
spaces. We're actually going to use that knowledge to create a design
for a house as our final project. I've never had the chance to take an
architecture class before {let alone get to be this creative in a
class} so that part has been fun.
Aside from academics and spending long hours in Admissions to earn some much-needed money, I have been having a lot of fun as well. I've been tackling some new recipes and cooking real food {as opposed to the pizza/macaroni and cheese/soup cycle I was on towards the end of fall semester} including the mini skillet meatloaves that I'm going to try tomorrow night {not tonight though because I have way too many leftovers to get through!}. Plus, I've had quite a bit of time to scout out Baltimore's vintage/thrift store scene. I've found a few places with great reviews that I'm really excited to explore.
I've also seen a few movies {like the ones below}, with plenty more on my "must see" list {including The Paranoids, A Single Man, Police, adjective, and Alice in Wonderland - to name only a few!}.
Broken Embraces
Inglourious Basterds
Fantastic Mr. Fox and The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Nine
{ok, ok, I saw this over winter break - but it
was too beautiful to resist putting it on the list!}
In addition, I've been searching for interesting summer internships and expanding my music collection. Though it has only been about a week so far, it has been a great Intersession and has been exactly what, I think, was intended by the university when "Intersession" was created in the first place: a time to explore, to grow, and to do something different with your time.
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